Developing a Solar Energy Potential Map

By Lyle Leitelt and Todd BenDor

Are you interested in increasing renewable energy use in your community? Efforts like the Solar America Cities initiative have helped spread the use of solar energy in communities across the country, but solar is still [...]]]> Just published as a American Planning Association Planning Advisory Service Memo:

Developing a Solar Energy Potential Map

By Lyle Leitelt and Todd BenDor

Are you interested in increasing renewable energy use in your community? Efforts like the Solar America Cities initiative have helped spread the use of solar energy in communities across the country, but solar is still an under-used resource in many places. This month’s PAS Memo describes how solar energy potential maps can help inform communities, residents, and business owners of the viability of solar energy on specific properties and rooftops.

Airspace Rebooted from ItoWorld on Vimeo.

“Taken for a Ride is an amazing documentary by Jim Kleina and Martha Olson that documents the efforts to derail mass transit in America. Ever wonder why the U.S. has the worst mass transportation system in the industrialized world? Using historical footage and investigative research, this film tells how GM fought to push freeways [...]]]>

“Taken for a Ride is an amazing documentary by Jim Kleina and Martha Olson that documents the efforts to derail mass transit in America. Ever wonder why the U.S. has the worst mass transportation system in the industrialized world? Using historical footage and investigative research, this film tells how GM fought to push freeways into the inner cities of America, and push public transportation out. For more information about this film, check out http://www.newday.com. This video was funded by the Independent Television Service. Support the work of this film by (a) using public transportation, (b) telling your elected representatives to dedicate more funding towards public transportation, and (c) purchase this video for your own collection. Go to http://www.newday.com/films/Taken_for_a_Ride.html”

Abstract. Nutrient trading systems are increasingly common elements of water pollution control programs. Participants in these programs often appear to be economically irrational since programs can drive regulatory overcompliance, while promoting few transactions. We examine this behavior [...]]]> My paper with former student Zoe Hamstead just came out in Environment and Planning C - check it out!

Abstract. Nutrient trading systems are increasingly common elements of water pollution control programs. Participants in these programs often appear to be economically irrational since programs can drive regulatory overcompliance, while promoting few transactions. We examine this behavior through a case study of a nitrogen trading program in the rapidly urbanizing Neuse River basin, North Carolina (USA). Program analysis, meeting observations, and a series of semistructured interviews with wastewater dischargers (point sources) revealed factors promoting overcompliance by the Neuse River Compliance Association (NRCA). In particular, overcompliance and low trading volume in the NRCA can be explained by participant hedging against uncertainty in the region’s future population growth and land-use change. Public sector participants in high-growth areas are likely to engage in high levels of information sharing and collaborative abatement activities. This work has implications for water-quality trading program design, particularly those involving public sector participants concerned about undercompliance due to future growth.

Check it out: http://www.contemporist.com/2010/01/05/outdoor-fireplace-by-haugenzohar-architects/

This is the coolest outdoor fireplace ever

Can I buy one?

The Daily News of Palo Alto, California reports that Apple has filed planning documents there for a new retail store that the company is calling “a new prototype for the company.” While Apple’s name has not been officially associated with the project in public filings and discussion, numerous sources have indicated that the company [...]]]> From MacRumors:

The Daily News of Palo Alto, California reports that Apple has filed planning documents there for a new retail store that the company is calling “a new prototype for the company.” While Apple’s name has not been officially associated with the project in public filings and discussion, numerous sources have indicated that the company is the tenant involved in the project.

Planning documents indicate that the new store, which will be located less than two blocks from the company’s existing Palo Alto retail store, will be about 10,700 square feet, over 50% larger than the current location. The new store’s façade is planned to be completely transparent at street level, with large skylights allowing trees to grow inside the store, thus minimizing the transition from outside to inside and drawing customers in.

“The proposed store is a new prototype for the applicant,” the developers wrote in a memo to the city. “Fully half the function of the store serves to provide education and service to business as well as customer patrons in addition to product sales. The store is a commons for the applicant’s community to gather.”

The memo adds that the transparent glass front “dissolves the boundary that traditional store facades create. By not breaking the horizontal ground plane of the sidewalk with opaque wall or landscape element, for example, the street is made part of the store’s interior; the pedestrian is in the store before entering it.”

At the opening of its new Upper West Side store in Manhattan late last year, Apple Senior Vice President of Retail Ron Johnson indicated that the company was shifting its plans to include larger and more iconic stores, noting that many of their existing stores are too small to function properly with the traffic they receive.

That is awesome…

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/story/246211.html